Word.ws English Dictionary

the thing

the thing noun: the needful thing: something suitable for the purpose.

Noun

the thing

  1. (predicative) The needful thing: something suitable for the purpose.
    • This book isn't quite the thing.
    • I need a present for my friend, and I think this is just the thing.
  2. (predicative) The desired thing: someone or something that is popularly favored.
    • He liked Tom all right. […] Sampson and Bullock he could do without, however. Especially Sampson, who was too much of a grammar-school-type swot ever to be quite the thing.1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 16
    • “When did money become the thing — the only thing?” Ms. Lim’s character asks in the opening monologue.2017 November 2, Ben Brantley, “Review: ‘Junk’ Revives a Go-Go Era of Debt and Duplicity”, in The New York Times

Examples of the thing in a sentence

  • Brewfest needs to become the thing at Rutgers.2018 September 30, Steve Politi, “A Rutgers fan's secret to survival: Beer. Lots and lots of beer.”, nj.com
  • "I'm a little confused why she's the thing,” McCaskill told CNN.2018 December 26, Avery Anapol (quoting Claire McCaskill), “McCaskill on Ocasio-Cortez: ‘I’m a little confused why she’s the thing’”, The...

Synonyms of the thing

Questions about the thing

What does the thing mean?
The thing means the needful thing: something suitable for the purpose.
How do you use the thing in a sentence?
Brewfest needs to become the thing at Rutgers.
What part of speech is the thing?
The thing is a noun.

Words near the thing in the dictionary

  1. the tackies hit the tar
  2. the tail wags the dog
  3. the tar out of
  4. the terrorists will have won
  5. the thick plottens
  6. the thing
  7. the thing is
  8. the thing of it
  9. the Three Weeks
  10. the time has come
  11. the tits

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the thing (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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